Greece Averts IMF Deadline, Buys Time for More Negotiations

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is set to address the parliament, a day after the government decided to bundle four debt payments to the International Monetary Fund into one, to be paid at the end of the month.

Greece owes the IMF money, which allows bundling of loan payments within the same month. But the move may signal further trouble for the cash-strapped country as lawmakers gathered for the emergency session Friday.

Tsipras is expected to talk to Greek lawmakers about his failure to reach terms of economic reform with Greece's European creditors in meetings in Brussels this week. Without new aid from Europe, Athens could default on its payments to the IMF. Delaying Friday's payment gives Greece more time to negotiate economic terms with Brussels.

Some European officials, who already have sent hundreds of billions of dollars in loans to Greece over the last several years, have voiced reluctance at approving more aid, saying the Greek government must live up to its economic austerity commitments and rein in spending, raise taxes and cut government payrolls.

But Tsipras has argued that after five years of economic hardship, his country needs gentler terms in order to survive.